During the 1990's under President Bill Clinton, the National Security Agency conducted random telecommunications surveillance of millions of phone calls daily under a top secret program known as Echelon.

But according to at least two people familiar with the spy operation at the time, some of the surveillance was far from indiscriminate.

In a February 2000 interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," NSA operator Margaret Newsham revealed that the agency's listening post in Great Britain was involved in monitoring the phone calls of at least one top Republican on Capitol Hill.

Questioned by "60 Minutes" interviewer Steve Kroft, Newsham recalled how she learned of the illegal surveillance:

"I walked into the office building and a friend said, 'Come over here and listen to--to this thing.' And he had headphones on, so I took the headphones and I listened to it, and I looked at him and said, 'That's an American.' . . .

Ms. Newsham remembered, "It was definitely an American voice, and it was a voice that was distinct. And I said, 'Well, who is that?'

"And he said it was Senator Strom Thurmond."

Until his retirement from the Senate in 2002, Thurmond was a frequent critic of the Clinton administration, who played a leading role in the 1998 impeachment drama - though there's no known connection to the decision to wiretap the South Carolina conservative.

During the same program, however, Kroft consulted with Mike Frost, who worked for Canada's version of the NSA for 20-years.

Asked if it was commonplace for the NSA to monitor the phone calls of top U.S. politicians, Frost told CBS: "Of course it goes on. Been going on for years. Of course it goes on. That's the way it works."

Jesse Helms revealed the secret identities of some of our informants in Central America, who were then killed. That made Helms a legitimate target for counter-intelligence. I doubt Thurmond was so disloyal but you never know.

Funny how this keeps being referred to as top secret. ECHELON WAS A KEY TOPIC ON THE TV SERIES "Alias"!!! "We intercepted a call to 'so-and-so' through Echelon." They even described it during its first mention as an electronic (phone/e-mail/etc) monitoring device utilized by the NSA!

8
posted on 01/06/2006 8:42:05 AM PST
by Pirate21
(The liberal media are as sheep clearing the path along which they will be led to the slaughter.)

"Until his retirement from the Senate in 2002, Thurmond was a frequent critic of the Clinton administration, who played a leading role in the 1998 impeachment drama - though there's no known connection to the decision to wiretap the South Carolina conservative."

Gimme a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

His CRITICISM of the Clinton administration and LEADING role in the impeachment were PRECISLEY WHY he was wiretapped.

But of course. Every president since Rutherford Hayes (the telephone was invented in 1876) has used an intelligence program in one form or another to tap phone lines of suspect individuals. All of a sudden now it's a huge frickin deal!

Funny how the media never looked into how Bubba and Janet "The Torch" Reno handled Ruby Ridge, Waco, and other domestic debacles to make sure they had their 't's crossed and 'i's dotted on their warrants, or if there even were warrants. All of a sudden now this stuff is a horrible threat to civil liberties. The media wasn't beating this drum during the Klinton years when the FBI/ATF was kicking in doors, gassing people, and burning their homes with them still inside. Maybe somebody ought to be asking Ted Koppel et al about their coverage on that!!

Impeach him again! Take away the sucker's pension, secret service protection and have Poppa Bush give him the cold shoulder.

Even at the time of impeachment I could not understand why Ken Starr went after this criminal on such flimsy grounds!! Why didn't he go after Clintoon on the missing 900+ FBI files, or Chinagate, or many other illegal activities that were on-going at the time and were fairly much common knowledge? Here is another one - were there no "Whistle blowers" at the NSA, CIA, DIA, and FBI during the Clintoon Admiin? Did he make them take LOYALTY OATHS?

27
posted on 01/06/2006 9:36:13 AM PST
by p23185
(Why isn't attempting to take down a sitting Pres & his Admin considered Sedition?)

I think the names of the people in those 500 files should be made public record. Why? Because, without some kind of check, 500 people and associates are subject to blackmail. The 500 files were all Republicans.

One thing that is wonderfully predictable about the Democrats and their handmaidens, the media, is when they scream the loudest about some supposed Republican shenanigans it is they themselves who are up to their eyeballs in it. The NSA and Abramoff deals are only the latest.

34
posted on 01/06/2006 10:22:30 AM PST
by Mind-numbed Robot
(Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government.)

It makes me wonder who actually recorded the phone call involving Newt.

Me too. It sure as hell wasn't the old couple (both DNC operatives) in Florida who claimed they managed to snatch both ends of a cell phone call on their "police scanner" and then just happened to have a tape recorder handy as well. That never passed the smell test.

It wouldn't take the NSA to do it, but it sure as hell wasn't a couple of retired union slumps either.

35
posted on 01/06/2006 10:34:09 AM PST
by Ditto
( No trees were killed in sending this message, but billions of electrons were inconvenienced.)

Oh yes, they do it every time. Tony Snow had a wonderful sound montage the other day that had all the top Democraps of the mid-1990s griping about Saddam's WMDs and his ambitions to use them or sell them to terrorists. It was priceless and even had Hillary. It also had Al Gore complaining that Bush I had done nothing about Saddam's WMDs during the first gulf war.

Some FReepers of what Queen Hillary (who would unconstitutionally serve an ADDITIONAL 4 years as co-president) would do with the powers granted by the Patriot Act. Those FBI files show she wouldn't care about any laws or restrictions ANYWAY.

38
posted on 01/06/2006 10:59:35 AM PST
by weegee
(Christmas - the holiday that dare not speak its name.)

Well, I remeber when this story came out in 2000 or 2001 & there were supposedly certain words that would trigger the program to monitor you. Several on FR used to end each post with that list....I rmember a few of those words, but the one that made me giggle was yogurt. Why in the world would yogurt be a trigger word?

So, the story is now at Newsmax, but we have older CBS & 60 minutes as well. I have not had time to read those yet, but those sources don't inspire confidence.

Quoting the Mar 2000 60 Minutes Article: She says she was shocked to hear the voice of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R.-S.C.) on a surveillance headset about 20 years ago. "To my knowledge, all (the intercepted voices)...would be...Russian, Chinese... foreign," she tells Kroft.

20 years ago from March 2000 puts it into either the Carter or Regan administration, not Clinton's.

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